Alan Davie is known for his paintings of symbols and abstract forms inspired by Zen Buddhism, ancient arts, Non-Western cosmology and the iconography of myth.
He is widely recognized as one of Britain's most significant living artists. His artwork is viewed as an important link between post-war British and International art. Since 2000 he has had major retrospectives at the Scottish National Gallery of Art, Edinburgh; the Cobra Museum of Modern Art, Amsterdam and the Tate St Ives, London.
Born in Grangemouth, Scotland, he attended the Edinburgh College of Art from 1937 to 1940. In 1941 he won an Andrew Grant scholarship, which enabled him to travel throughout Europe. In Venice his artwork captured the attention of Peggy Guggenheim who purchased a painting and helped to launch his career. In 1956 at his first New York exhibition, The Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo acquired works for their permanent collections.
His artwork is in numerous museum collections including: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; Institute of Arts, Detroit; Kunsthaus, Basel, Switzerland; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; and the Tate Gallery, London.